Phillips Harbour
Tuesday, October 27. Afternoon.
As they come into view of the Shelley Manor, Caliban and Shaft discover more people than they expected are on site. Several townsmen and three of the witchhunters are outside with crowbars and a ladder, prying the boards off the windows. Both the wrought-iron gate and the houses's front door stand open. About half the windows are unboarded already. The Revs. Locke and Hale are outside with Sheriff Ponds, who looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Ain't my place to say, reverend," Ponds is saying to Locke. "I mean, it aint my house. It'd be for the town council to decide, like."
"Then let us speak with the council at once," Locke says, arms folded across his chest.
"Or a town meetin', mebbe." Ponds shifts from foot to foot, not meeting Locke's gaze.
"Then let there be a town meeting. The house must go. It's not as if the town's found a buye for it in twenty years, my son, and a good thing too," the witchhunter replies.
"Good day, gentlemen," Shaft says as he comes upon the Sheriff and Reverend. "I was hoping to get another photo today. Is there some special reason for removing the boards from the windows?"
The faithful butler chimpanzee, impeccably dressed, holds a bag of photography equipment in one hand, and a tripod for the camera stand slung over his shoulder on the other side. He stands behind Mr. Shaft with great solemnity.
"Indeed there is. Though I should rather be removing the house." Locke's voice is firm, with no trace of uncertainty.
"The demonic presence in this house is a powerful one," Hale explains. "My colleague feels that it would be better to purge the manor -- ie, demolish it -- before attempting an exorcism. But in either case, sunlight and air will weaken the demon's grip on this world."
"Fascinating!" Shaft says, and starts setting up some of the equipment that Caliban is carrying. "The.. demon.. is using the house as some sort of protection then?"
"As host, rather," Locke says. "Demons can possess humans, as I am sure you are aware. But they may also possess animals and even places. In this case, the house itself is possessed. With a person, naturally destroying the host is out of the question. But with an abandoned piece of property and a demon of this power and malignancy, I see no sense in trying to salvage the property. It must be purged."
Caliban peers at the house curiously, openly gawking at the busy demolition.
"And that would destroy the demonic presence?" Shaft asks.
"Perhaps, but not necessarily," Locke says. "It would undoubtedly weaken its grip on this world, however, and make it considerably easier to exorcise."
"Ah," the Englishman says, as he balances the tripod. "So there's no danger of the thing possessing someone or something else once the house is removed?"
The chimpanzee shivers. He gives his boss an uneasy look and goes to help set up the tripod so that his boss can secure the camera in place.
"No increased danger," Hale corrects Shaft. "With a demon, the possibility of possession is always there." At this, Ponds looks more nervous, and hale continues, "But we have placed God's blessing on all the men here, and we are vigilant in case of attack. We should be safe enough. Even so, I would not recommend venturing into the house. It's a miracle the demon has not done more damage to this town in the years it has been here. But it knows we're here now and it may grow desperate, knowing that we mean to destroy it."
The flower Yotee left was on the north wing, not visible from the front yard where the men are currently gathered.
"Years?" Herbert asks. "I never thought about how long it was here. How did it come to possess the Shelley house? Did somebody do it to them deliberately?"
"That I cannot say." Locke's voice is dark. "Given the history of the Shelleys and their run of 'bad luck', I imagine it has been here for decades, perhaps marking its arrival with the Shelley daughter's illness. It may be that the father trafficked with demons and brought this ruin upon himself."
"Now, that's a bit harsh to say of a dead man." Sheriff Ponds scowls. "Mr. Shelley was well-respected 'rounnd these parts, father."
"Tragic, all around," Herbert says, and finishes mounting the (normal) camera with Caliban's help. "But surely you could just walk in and banish it anyway, couldn't you?"
Once the camera's installed, the chimpanzee looks at the house thoughtfully, then at the sun, then makes a small ook at his master. He goes to look around at the other side of the house.
Hale and Locke exchange glances. Rev. Woodrome has wandered away from the removal of the boards and come to see what the conversation is about. "We could," Woodrome says, firmly. "It is our intention to do so as soon as the house has a chance to air out. Is it not, reverends?"
"It would be wiser to demolish the house first," Locke says. It looks like this argument could go on a while.
Herbert hmmms. "The lighting isn't particularly ideal here, but this is where the action is," he comments. "While my assistant checks the lighting on the other side, could you assist me for a moment, Reverend Hale?"
On the north wing, the white flower is still growing in its bowl. Its head is dipping, however. Looks like it needs watering.
The ape ponders the situation, looking around to see if anyone's watching, then at the house to see if the plant could be retrieved from the outside.
"Certainly, sir." As Hale follows Herbert back to the equipment, there's a loud crash from somewhere inside the house, on the second floor. Everyone starts and stares at the house nervously.
Shaft nearly jumps at the sound. "I suppose the demon is agitated," he comments. Once at the camera, he removes the unfolded spirit trap from his jacket. "I use this gauge the light in the scene," he says aloud, then whispers to Hale, "It's a spirit trap. I've activated all six of the containment crystals so that it might be able to capture the entity, if you could carry it close enough."
Hale gives Shaft an are-you-mad look. "You want me to put that thing into the house?" he whispers back. "Oh ... and I don't think that was the house. Prayer and Miss Pau's nightingale have been stirring up trouble all morning, which is starting to wrack my nervers. But there is something unnatural about this manor, I am certan. Even if it's not as blatant as knocking over furniture and breaking things."
Hearing the noise, the chimpanzee jumps as if someone had shouted at him to cease and desist. He looks around again, pondering the options.
"Well, it is a bit of an experiment to see if a powerful spirit can be trapped," Shaft whispers. "And since you're trying to get rid of this entity anyway..."
The flower is set in the frame of the incomplete wall of the north parlor. It's currently out of sight of the workers. Caliban could grab it without going into the house, and the odds are good no one else would notice him doing it (though they might wonder where he got the flower and bowl from).
"Right." Hale looks at the trap. He looks at the house. Then back at the trap. "It'd have to be carried inside, wouldn't it?"
Steeling his nerves, the chimpanzee decides to go up and nab it. Marseilles isn't here to appreciate it, he reasons, and when the exorcists come in and start making real trouble, it'd be far too easy for the plant to get broken in the chaos.
"Ideally," Shaft says. "Unless Locke is right about destroying the house to weaken the spirit first, but that could take days."
"That will take days, I fear. Weeks, more likely. The sheriff isn't pleased by the notion, as I'm sure you can tell. On the bright side, if it takes weeks it will keep Woodrome and Locke busy until the Game is done, too." Hale looks at the trap again and sighs. He holds out his hand for it. "It's all set, then?"
Herbert hands over the ornate cross, and nods. "If it works at all, it can give us a lot of useful information on dealing with the big spirits," he says.
Hale nods. He accepts the spirit trap and starts towards the house. "I'm going to investigate that noise," he announces to the crowd. Meanwhile, Caliban retrieves the flower without trouble -- or even attention, as all eyes turn to Hale.
Handy distraction, the ape thinks as he wanders back, looking for a good place to set the plant down where it will be out of the way, sheltered from flying stonework for instance, and can be retrieved later.
"I don't believe that's wise," Locke says, but Hale brushes him off with a nod. The preacher's long strides carry him to the stairs, and then into the house.
The ape searches the grounds visually for a good spot, but it takes him a couple of minutes to find one out of sight. As he's carrying it over there, one of the workmen calls out. "Oy! What's your animal got there, Mr. Shaft?"
Herbert watches Hale approach the house nervously. He doesn't know what might happen if the trap overloads, beyond ruining the crystals.
The chimpanzee looks worried for a moment, then decides to play it nonchalant and bring it over to his master for inspection.
"It appears to be a flower," Herbert replies. "Not something you'd want in a photo of a haunted house."
A moment passes, then ... something happens in the house. A kind of heat-haze shimmer goes over it. "What was that?" The workmen draw back uncertainly, two of them holding their crowbars like clubs, one dropping his. Locke approaches the door. "Rev. Hale?"
"I'm ... fine." Hale's voice is a little strained. He'd gone up the inside staircase and is out of sight. "Ah. Mr. Shaft ... about this, er, light gauge of yours .... "
Herbert isn't certain what to make of that effect, but hopes Hale is alright.
After due reflection, the chimpanzee decides to just set the bowl down next to the bag of equipment. He nudges his boss, then looks toward the house pointedly.
"Can you sense what just happened?" Shaft whispers to Caliban. "If the house really is the 'body' of this spirit, then the trap may not effect it at all.."
The chimpanzee gives his master a 'what are you waiting for, let's go before it's too late!' look and starts off toward the house.
"Ah, of course," Herbert says, and leaves the camera to head for the house - hoping that they didn't just really anger the 'demon' inside.
"Mr. Shaft?" Hale calls again. His voice sounds carefully controlled, like a mask of calm over great worry. "Would you come here for a moment?" he asks, as ape and Englishman come towards the house.
Herbert picks up his pace, calling, "Right away, Reverend!"
"What is it, man?" Locke asks. Woodrome follows Shaft into the house, and a moment later, so does Locke. Both witchhunters stop inside the door staring. "Lord God preserve us all," Locke whispers.
Hale is standing at the landing at the top of the stairs, holding the unfolded spirit trap with one hand. Instead of dangling from his fingers, it's upraised, his fingers clenched on the bottom. Every one of its six crystals is blazing with light.
"It.. uh," Shaft says, not wanting to say more in the presence of the others. "Can you move, Reverend Hale?"
The chimpanzee looks back at the witch hunters and then gives his boss a very distinct 'Time for plan B' look as he reaches into his jacket for a freshly charged Spirit Stunner.
Hale is frozen with his hand on the trap. He looks at Shaft. He looks at the witchhunters. "Er. Yes?" His free hand goes to the upper right bar of the trap and tugs at it. The trap doesn't move.
"Can you... let go of that, then?" Shaft asks next.
"What's going on? Is that cross something of yours, Mr. Shaft?" Woodrome asks, recovering some presence of mind.
"Um. Yes." Hale cringes inwardly, and lets go of it. The spirit trap hovers where he released it. Woodrome and Locke gasp.
"A family heirloom," Shaft says, thinking fast. "I use it gauge light levels for my photography. It was made by my grandfather, who was a priest."
"Is it supposed to do that?" Locke demands. Hale looks like he wants to know the answer to that himself.
Could it still be drawing in the demon? the Englishman wonders to himself, trying to think of why it would be locked in place like that.
The chimpanzee closes his eyes, trying to 'see' the situation for himself, one hand on the wooden casing of the Spirit Stunner.
"I've.. never seen it do that before," Shaft says honestly. "It was blessed, of course, so.."
The trap revolves slowly, going through a 3/8ths turn before coming to a stop. The wood of the landing beneath Hale's feet groans.
"Perhaps.. ah.. perhaps we should vacate the premises," Shaft says, and starts backing towards the door.
"Agreed." Hale goes down the stairs at a near run, and Woodrome and Locke join Shaft in exiting.
Caliban opens his eyes just as his master exits, and brandishes what appears to be a small and simply carved dark wooden box, from which emit two silvery prongs like the horns of an antelope. His finger comes to rest on an inset square of a lighter wood. He touches the Stunner to the floor and holds the button down - full blast!
The whole house shudders, wood creaking and groaning beneath the feet of the men as Caliban pulls the trigger. The chimp feels a spreading numbness in his own bare feet. His knees buckle, but he keeps the trigger down. His free hand falls to the floor too, and his fingers tingle unpleasantly. Then his elbow buckles. Bits of plaster rain down from the ceiling as the house shakes. One of the boards on the stairs breaks as Hale's foot comes down on it. He grabs the railing, and that shatters too, like kindling.
Collapsed against the floor, Caliban still holds the trigger down.
Then, suddenly, the spirit trap folds up into a box. It drops from where it was hovering on level with the second-floor landing to the first floor below with a clatter. It rolls towards Caliban and stops a yard away. The house stops shaking.
"Caliban?" Herbert calls from outside the house.
Woodrome had made it outside. Hale had fallen sideways on the stairs, with his foot trapped. Locke had started up the steps after Hale, seeing his fate. He now helps to pull the other man's foot free of the broken slat that his leg went through.
The chimpanzee takes the hint and stows the stunner back in his jacket quickly before picking up the trap. He hurries down to the stairs, then noticing the Reverend's distress, slows to a normal walking pace and offers him assistance as well, with a distinctly nonchalant air of 'What's the problem, sir?'
Without further fuss, all three escape the confines of the house. "What was that?" Woodrome is demanding of Shaft. "A light gauge? You use that in photography? What sort of photographs do you take, sir?"
Caliban hands his boss the trap. Your light gauge, sir.
"It was Mr. Shaft's photography that led us to this house," Rev. Hale points out. He's leaning against Locke and limping, a grimace on his face.
"I use it as a light gauge, but that isn't what it was made for," Shaft admits. "You noticed that the crystals glow? Sunlight does that to them as well, at least, through the lens of the camera. So I can tell the light levels by the glow. But it is, of course, a cross as well."
Herbert gives the folded-up trap a quick glance to look for damage to the crystals.
"Photography is a relatively new field still," Shaft adds quietly. "Sometimes things show up on film that wouldn't be visible to the naked eye."
"And a box," Locke says dryly, eyeing it.
"And what did it do in there? Has it ... somehow ... caught the demon?" Woodrome demands.
A couple of the crystals have small fractures over their faces, evident to the naked eye.
The chimpanzee catches his master's eye and makes a gesture, as if tearing a piece of paper in half, then nods toward the house.
"I.. don't know," Shaft says. "My grandfather never said anything about being a demon hunter. Is the evil presence gone from the house?" he asks the others, catching Caliban's signal.
The three preachers exchange glances. "Something certainly happened. I am not sure I would pronounce the place cleansed," Locke says. "We must pray, and seek the Holy Spirit for guidance." Hale and Woodrome nod agreement.
The chimpanzee sighs, then nods toward the camera.
"Ah, it's been damaged," Herbert says as he notes the fractured crystals. "The demon was probably just trying to destroy it, since it was a Christian artifact." Shaft takes Cal's hint, and returns to the camera to frame up an image of the exorcists gathering in prayer.
"Ah, yes, that would make sense." Woodrome sounds satisfied. Locke looks both perturbed and suspicious.
As Shaft fiddles with the camera, the spirit trap trembles in his pocket. It feels warm to the touch.
Herbert bends to go through the box of film plates, and says, "Oh dear, these emulsions just won't do for these lighting conditions, and we didn't bring the flash bar," the man says, coming up with an excuse to head back to the Babbage once the trap begins to tremble. "Let's head back and get those, Caliban."
The chimpanzee looks up, then nods to his boss. "Ook? Ook."
"Quickly," Shaft replies, and starts walking at a good clip. "I'm sure the camera will be safe until we return.."
By the time they get back to the boathouse, the spirit trap is too hot to touch with bare skin. Shaft juggles it out of his pocket with gloved hands and a handkerchief.
"It's not going to hold, Cal," Shaft says. "I don't think it will be safe for you to connect to the trap."
The chimpanzee looks worried. Can we drain it into something... The Engine, or somethin'? he suggests through gestures and pointing.
Miss Pau isn't around when they return. She'd mentioned pursuing research of her own just before the other two left for the manor.
"I don't know if the batteries could hold it," Shaft admits. "But we can try!" He goes about drawing the leads from one of the big batteries (but not the one with the brain and organs in it) so it can be connected directly to the trap. Then he has to take off his gloves and dip his fingers in water so they won't burn when it comes time to touch the control contacts on the trap itself. "This is probably going to hurt," he tells Cal.
The chimpanzee watches with worry obvious on his wrinkly face. He'd used up all the charge in the Spirit Stunner, so what can he do if it pops out, unhappy at them? Then a thought comes to him. Marseilles! He goes to the window and calls her name, though it sounds like a long 'Whoooot!'.
When they get the battery hooked up to the trap for long-term storage and start the transfer, the spirit trap unfolds again, as is normal. The glow of the crystals in the trap starts to dim. The battery starts to fill while Caliban shouts for Marseilles.
The battery reaches capacity, and the transfer stops ... with the crystals of the trap still glowing dimly.
Explosion. I didn't hear an earth-shattering explosion, the chimpanzee muses to himself thoughtfully as he gives up on the spirit for the moment. He peers over his shoulder at his boss's work.
Herbert blows on his fingers, and watches the surviving crystals warily. "Well, we know the capacity of human necroplasm now at least, he mutters, and attempts to disconnect the battery leads. "Bring the stunner, Caliban, we can recharge it directly as well. And all of our other small batteries."
When Herbert tries to disconnect the leads, they won't come off. They're even hotter than the trap was. Sparks fly at his fingers, singeing them.
The chimpanzee widens his eyes at the flying sparks. Hooboy, this spirit really wants to stick together, he concludes. Boss! Can we hook the stunner up and um, stun it with itself?
Caliban returns from the window quickly, pulling the Stunner out of his pocket.
"Ah, on second thought, let's not," the man says after the sparks die down. "But the spirit left in the traps might be weak enough now to communicate with. We'll have to recharge the stunner from the necroplasm itself."
To do that, they'll first have to find a way to unhook it from the battery.
The leads between the trap and the battery start to glow, faintly. This doesn't look good.
The chimpanzee furrows his brows. Boss - we need to do something that uses a lot of power. Quick! The Engine!
"Oh dear," Herbert notes, and goes to the Engine, activating every function it has, and also reconnecting the Spirit Lamp to the main power and switching that on, since it consumes the most energy (or just 'shines' brighter).
The Spirit Lamp! Of course! That'll get Marseilles fast, Caliban says, awed by his master's brilliance.
Herbert hooks the battery -- still charging from the trap -- directly into the Engine. The Engine makes an odd clunking noise, gears grinding. There's a whine from the trap. From the crystals to the leads to the battery to the tubes that enter the Engine, the glow spreads and intensifies.
Marseilles flies through the wall, manifesting as she enters. "What are you doing?"
The monkey screeches. Marseilles! We trapped half the House! But it's too much for the trap and battery to hold!
"Too much pressure!" Herbert wails, and goes to the drain tap on the battery, prepared to let it spill out, until Marseilles appears. "Ah! I don't suppose you're feeling hungry are you?" he asks the ghost.
Caliban dives for the Helmet. Maybe he can battle it somehow with that, or talk to it... At worst - well, things look like they are on their way to a spectacular blow-up anyway.
"You want me to try eating that?" Marseilles looks daunted, but her eyes glow blue. She drifts towards it. "This is the house? This is what tried to eat me?"
Half of it! yells Caliban, between hooking up leads.
"Yes!" Herbert says. "If you don't want to risk it, can you find the Unicorn?" he asks the ghost.
Marseilles touches the glowing line.
Caliban, just about to slam the helmet on, freezes as Marseilles touches the line. He prays to the spirits. Please, please, don't let it eat Marseilles...
The ghost girl's hand fuses with the line. The Engine clonks again. Clonk. Clonk. Marseilles's eyes glow brilliant blue, her foxtail brushing out and swishing behind her. She opens her mouth, and breath steams out in clouds.
But the glow from the battery and the trap starts to lessen. The grinding and clonking from the Engine smoothes out and ceases. Slowly, the trap empties as the Engine hums. Marseilles stares forward fixedly, both hands locked around the lead lines.
After what seems like an eternity, the trap is empty. The battery is still full, although the Engine is draining it slowly with all its functions running. The glow around the lead lines and the tubes has died down, and everything looks normal except Marseilles. Her face has a fox's muzzle on it now, drawn back in a snarl.
The chimpanzee looks at Marseilles, then at his master. Then back at Marseilles.
Herbert turns off the Spirit Lamp, and frowns at the transformation. "The demon must have a bestial nature," he says, and then remembers that the Spirit Stunner is completely drained. "She's only drawing off of the Trap though, I think."
Let's turn this stuff off, the chimpanzee suggests, pointing to the Lamp, and turning off the simple stuff on his side of things.
The ghost's hands are a glowing blob around the lead lines. Slowly, however, the glow on them recedes, and they start to take on the definition of fingers again. For a moment, there's the impression of red fur and black claws, then Marseilles's fingers are human. She unclenches them from around the line. Her fox mouth opens, closes with a snap. She shakes her heaed and the muzzle vanishes. "Ulck."
"Marseilles!" Herbert says, "How do you feel? Are you still... yourself?"
"Ulp." Marseilles looks faintly green. "I feel sick."
Shaft reaches out to try and steady the girl, forgetting for the moment that she's intangible.
The chimpanzee moves to switch off the Ouija board, which is busy plotting out the location of the Banefire that would result if the Mikkelsens were added, then stops and peers at the map to see if the House's spirit had any effects o nthe calculation.
Marseilles isn't exactly intangible at the moment: Shaft's fingers tingle as they touch her arm, and she feels real enough for his touch to steady her. "Uck." She rubs at her face with both hands. "So that was it. That was the darkness. And I ate it .... some of it, anyway." She doesn't look like she knows what to make of this.
"Can you recall any of its memories?" Shaft asks next, suddenly surprised at how solid the spirit feels.
That was amazing, Marseilles, Caliban opines, looking up from the map and turning off the Calculation. We'd have been goners without you!
The girl sits on one of the tables, smoothing her skirt over her legs. She shakes her head at Shaft. "Not really. It's like tar in my mind, hot and thick and sticky like a thing and not a person. Bits and pieces of watching and waiting. Endless days and nights. A fire burning."
"A fire?" Herbert asks, sitting down next to the girl. "In a hearth, or perhaps something different? Could the fire be how it saw you?"
Caliban starts cleaning up, and preparing a new film plate for the Spirit Camera.
She shakes her head. "No ... it's the fire at the shipyard. It remembers the fire that destroyed my father's shipyard. It caused it. But I don't know why. I don't know why it wanted to destroy us. I'm not sure it knew, either."
"Amazing," Herbert mutters. "It could have been a person who felt wronged, perhaps. A vengeful spirit? Do you feel any malice in it, or just.. hunger?"
Could it have been a curse by an enemy of your father? asks Caliban.
"Both." She rubs her stomach. "It's all icky. Sneaky and hungry and dark. I don' wanna talk about it." Marseilles brings her tail around, hugging it to her chest without quite realizing what she's doing.
The chimpanzee reaches up and pats Marseilles's shoulder. Want some tea or milk, an' cookies?
Wilted fox ears perk at this suggestion. "Yeah." She scoots forward and off the table. "Um. Thanks for catching it, Mr. Shaft. It was a real bad thing. I never understood it before."
"Well, I think you're more than a match for the darkness that remains in the manor now, at least," Herbert says. "And this shows that it may be possible to connect the Amplifier up to a spirit instead of an Artifact."
"It may not be safe to go home just yet though," Shaft adds. "There's still something there, and the priests are going to try and exorcise it. I don't know if that can affect you now, unless there's still some connection between what you've absorbed and what was left behind."
"Mm-hmm. I'll stay away from there for now. I ... I don't feel like going home anymore." Her voice has a kind of wonder in it at that. "I feel so weird." She bites her lip, and drifts after Caliban when he goes to get the milk and cookies.
Oh yeah, I moved that flower out of the way in case it might get eaten or flattened, but it's still there. Should we try and get it, or leave it there? the chimpanzee asks of Marseilles as he prepares a snack for her. In honor of the occasion, he gets out the thin imported chocolate-covered sugar wafers. Expensive, but sometimes one deserves the very best.
"Have you met the Unicorn yet?" Herbert asks the girl, and gets up to check on the Engine some more. "It could probably help you figure out what you want to do next. Thanks to this test, we might be able to strengthen it and whatever other spirits it can bring to face the overlords on the other side of the portal."
"Oh! The flower! Yes, please get her back," Marseilles says. She munches on one of the little wafer cookies. Very solidly. She looks over at Herbert. "Trouble told me about the Unicorn and we tried to find her but couldn't. Do you know where she is?"
The chimpanzee nods. We'll have to go back out there to photograph it, we'll grab it then, miss. Shouldn't be a problem.
"We have a way to find her, but I left it with Miss Mikkelsen," Herbert says, and returns to the table. "She has a special connection to the Unicorn, and might be able to take you to it." He picks up the Stunner, and pulls the battery out, looking over the device thoughtfully. "Oh yes, the house.. we'll need to bring the Darklight Camera.."
At the manor, all the remaining boards have been pried from the windows and every door flung open wide. All four men of the cloth -- Locke, Woodrome, Hale and Milton -- are gathered in the front yard with the workmen and even the sheriff, praying. The house looks quiscient.
When the men finish the round of prayers with a final 'Amen', the four preachers gather to discuss the situation.
Herbert and Caliban swap out the regular camera for the bulky Darklight Camera, and prepare to take a new picture with it. "Are you feeling anything from the house, Caliban? I wonder if it is still stunned."
We didn't get all of it, boss, just part of it, the chimpanzee opines, making his feelings clear to the boss through expression and some discreet gestures. Some of it's still inside. Hurt.
A few minutes later, Hale comes over to Mr. Shaft to talk. "We don't think the demon's gone, but it's been damaged. Did you bring your, ah, 'light gauge' back? Rev. Woodrome wants to try exorcising it with that."
"It's a bit too damaged to be useful right now," Shaft notes. "It needs serious repair, in fact, and without all of the crystals it doesn't have the capacity to hold the remaining spirit. I also can't say for how much longer the effects of the stunner will last on it. I was going to take a new photograph to see if we can gauge the condition of the thing, actually."
Hale nods. "Sound enough. I'll try telling Woodrome that you don't wish it used ... though that'll be hard to do without explaining its true purpose and why using it again wouldn't work."
The chimpanzee looks sympathetic at the Reverend, but evidently has no great ideas to suggest on the subject.
"Well, it barely survived the first use," Shaft notes. "I think their plan of tearing down the building will work now though. We can still use the Spirit Stunner on the demon later if it acts up. And the resident ghost will not be returning here anyway."
As anticipated, Woodrome doesn't understand Shaft's reluctance. Ultimately, he and Locke both coe over in an attempt to persuade Shaft otherwise. When that fails, they look disgruntled but eventually accept that 'no' is the answer. They intend to exorcise the demon today, not bothering with the demolition. "It's already weak; I don't see a need to wait and give it a chance to regain strength."
"I'm certain you are all more than capable of dealing with it," Shaft says in encouragement.
Woodrome nods stiffly, still a little annoyed that Shaft won't let them use his 'grandfather's cross'. He and Locke rejoin their associates, and go into the house to make final preparations for the exorcism.
"We'll wait until they're done to take the photo," Shaft says to Caliban. "Did you notice how Marseilles was able to draw energy directly from the oricalchum wires? That means we can charge an Artifact and spirits at the same time with the Amplifier. And the stunner worked on the demon as well! Quite promising, don't you think?"
The chimpanzee nods to his boss, while putting the slightly wilted flower in with the camera stuff so they can walk off with it when they're done taking pictures. Water soon, he promises it.